Here Today
by OTT Barnes
Summary: Buffy finds Dawn with a lot of things on her mind. Mention of Tara as well as Willow and Kennedy. Takes place the night before the big battles in "Chosen."


**In honor of the 10th anniversary of BTVS series finale, "Chosen," I have written this one shot. BTVS is own by FOX. The _Here Today_ song belongs to Paul McCartney. A reference to a song of the same name belongs to the Beach Boys. I was inspired by this story after thinking how Dawn was the ultimate Willow/Tara shipper. Takes place the night before the big battle.**

It was 3:30am, and the neighborhood of Revello Drive was extremely quiet. The Summers home had been alive with many voices for quite some time. Buffy has been protecting a lot of girls, who had the Potential to be a Slayer, from the First Evil and his Bringers. Now the town of Sunnydale was nearly deserted except Buffy and her friends, whom stayed behind to attempt to fight the First.

Buffy was resting with Spike at her side down in the basement. She heard faint footsteps upstairs. She got up slowly, not wanting to wake Spike. She sneaked up each step with ease. She looked around the house, watching her step since the floor was covered with many Potentials sleeping in their bags. She walked into the kitchen where she found Dawn having a bowl of cereal.

"Dawn?" Buffy whispered.

"Can't sleep, too?" said Dawn. "Afraid there's no more Cheerios since the world's about end."

"Shh," said Buffy. "Please keep it down."

"What are you doing here?"

"I heard some footsteps and I wondered who that was," said Buffy.

"Your slayer sense was tingling? Well I hate to be a disappointment if you were looking to hunt and fight."

"Why couldn't you sleep?" Buffy asked, as she sat beside her sister.

"A lot of things were on my mind," Dawn replied.

"Explain."

"Well…"

Dawn tried to form words, but all she did was drop her spoon. Her eyes started to fill up with tears.

"Wait, Dawn," said Buffy. "Let's take this to the bathroom."

Buffy and Dawn walked upstairs over to their bathroom. As she locked the door, Dawn sat down on the toilet and began to wept. Buffy sat down on the edge of the tub.

"Dawn, what's wrong?"

"Buffy, I miss Tara! I miss her so much!"

"You're not the only one who does," said Buffy as she laid down her head. "I miss her a lot, too. But she's at peace. That's a plus right?"

"It's not just that," said Dawn. "It's Willow and Kennedy. I don't like seeing Willow with that harpy. She gives me bad vibes."

"Dawn, I understand your frustration but we cannot intervene this," said Buffy. "Kennedy drives me nut too. I try to restrain myself every time she insults me, but at the same time we need her."

"Why?"

"She is our toughest Potential while the rest are just crybabies. I have calm down and train these girls to be strong with some of her assistance. With that said, we're not in charge of Willow's life here. We can't decide what's best for her. It's all up to her. This fling she has with Kennedy may not seem perfect but it feels enough. Plus Willow deserves to be looked at normal from strangers, despite their attitudes. A new love affair can be a very beautiful thing. But if there are road bumps, the pain it brings…it would make her feel bad, her heart so low, and her nights long. Nonetheless I feel this rebound would get Willow through these dark times."

"But I don't want her to forget Tara," said Dawn.

"Then keep her alive in your journals," said Buffy. "You have a photograph of her? Preserve it because it is all that is left of her. It is like what Macca sang: 'And if I say I really loved you and was glad you came along then you were here today… for you were in my song. Then there would come a time where Willow might be confident enough to be independent much like I did after Riley. And perhaps she might find someone who would fill that void left in her after Tara died. Hopefully it would be someone who's more tolerable."

Buffy raised her Dawn's lowered head.

"And hey, you can make fun of Kennedy behind her back."

Dawn gave a lopsided smile to her sister and embraced her.

"You certainly see a lot more than you do," said Dawn.

"Yeah well, Xander made me the official seer of the group since his eye...how did I do?"

Dawn replied, "You did awful…" Buffy looked worried."…ly good. I appreciate your comfort, Buffy. Do you think we'll make it through the next day?"

"Like I said, I have the best plans ever but you might see them as crap. Saving the world or letting the world end can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. If we save it again, we'd have to spend another dozen of years trying to live life in all its dreadfulness. If we fail, we might meet again in a sunny paradise. Which do you prefer: the easy way or the hard way?"

"Actually, Buffy, I've heard enough. I'm really tired now. But thank you."

"I understand," said Buffy. "Gotta be up and ready to live life to its fullest."

Dawn nodded and went back inside her room. Buffy quietly went back downstairs with assurance that they will come through. Whether they might succeed or not, they would still stand here today, regardless of their fate.


End file.
